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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Anyone wondering why a grassroots/community informatics perspective is necessary in the WSIS and related ICT4D venues should take a close look at this corporate driven top-down techno-fantasy of what could/should be done with no attention being given to how it might actually be accomplished on the ground even after almost twenty years of similar pronouncements and failed (and hugely wasteful) similarly top down initiatives.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>M</span><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><cite><span style='font-style:normal'><a href="http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2013/67.asp">http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2013/67.asp</a><o:p></o:p></span></cite></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=apple-style-span><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Broadband infrastructure, applications and services have become critical to driving growth, delivering social services, improving environmental management, and transforming people’s lives, according to a new Manifesto released by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and signed by 48 members of the Commission, along with other prominent figures from industry, civil society and the United Nations. “Overcoming the digital divide makes sense not only on the basis of principles of fairness and justice; connecting the world makes sound commercial sense,” the Manifesto reads. “The vital role of broadband needs to be acknowledged at the core of any post-2015 sustainable development framework, to ensure that all countries – developed and developing alike – are empowered to participate in the global digital economy.”</span></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:#1F497D'>Supporting Document<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/working-groups/bb-wg-taskforce-report.pdf">http://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/working-groups/bb-wg-taskforce-report.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></body></html>